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Is this new progression server a hope for MMOs?
I'm semi-reluctant to suggest this but I can't help feel it may be the case.
Is Fippy Darkpaw server a big, fat hope for MMOs?
By that I mean a hope for us that are sick of the direction this genre is taking to lame, linear, simplistic and solo MMOs, of which Rift is the latest and poorest. For years a lot of us have been calling out for something new and invigorating. Vanguard promised it but things never panned out, but many of us rode that bandwagon for months, or years. I also think it was the first major source of being player burn that people speak of so frequently.
SOE seem to be seeing something here. They actually really seem to be doing their damnest to make this server an expereince that the community have been calling out for and they put the server up date back two weeks to give them a headstart on Rift. I can only think that that is planned and that they hope they may be able to snag people on the fence.
Okay further broad generalisation now. If this server really takes off, and I mean fills up fast and keeps people entertained for a long time, then does that spell out a message to the devs that are making games now? Does it say 'we exist'? Does it prove once and for all that there are a lot of people wanting something...better?
What does this server's hype tell SOE about the project that is EQNext?
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Comments
First and foremost, you got to show up to support this server. It's the only way to get your voice heard. Anybody out there claiming to want to re-experience the old school days, it's time to show SOE and the gaming community that you mean what you say. Money talk louder than words. If you don't show up to support this server, you'll forever be waiting for that next EQ, that next DAOC, that next AC1, that next UO. These companies won't create the next of any of them if you don't show them that there is plenty of interest out there for them.
As for the thread topic, is this new prog server a hope for MMO's? Well it's a hope for players looking to re-live the good 'ol days. It's a hope for folks wanting to experience that newbie rush in an old school MMO. It's pretty much a hope for people coming together looking for the same things... nostalgia & fun. I don't know if this server alone will transform the MMO landscape, I don't think it will. But if there's a company out there that can and are willing to create the next EQ it's SOE. We all know Everquest Next is in development. Showing up to support Fippy will be a good clear message that there is still a good fanbase for these old school classics.
As for the time lock progression server itself, it's important to have the right expectations. You should know that while EQ1 dev team have gone above & beyond and surprised everybody with their recent Fippy FAQ, no matter what, this isn't 1999. Now that can be a good thing if you keep an open mind and realize some of the things left out are left out for good. But from the way it looks so far, we will all be able to re-experience EQ again and progress through expansions not in a hurry hurry manner as the last progression servers, but in a more relaxed manner where all subscribers get to vote for expansion opening. It's ingenious of a method if you ask me, letting the actual players of such server decide on how fast/slow the progression goes.
It'll be fun. And if Fippy turns out to be a blockbuster hit, meaning after a few months the server remains highly populated, then you can bet it'll raise eyebrows. Think about it. SOE spent tons of money and resources, including online ad marketing, into EQ2X. What if Fippy comes busting out of the gate and gets a higher population than EQ2X server? I can tell you it'll make Smed scratch his head that's for sure. So anyways, be there, show your support. Let your voice be heard. It's going to be a blast.
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
I fully agree with Mardy. Well said.
I've gone and resubbed to EQ and installed the game in anticipation of the new server. Look forward to reliving the experience and making new friends.
Cya in game.
I am not sure what it tells us about EQnext, which I believe will be a freerealms cash shop monster with an eq skin tbh, but I think the fact that this server is gaining such widespread interest (for a 12 year old game, with it's 12 year old playstyle) is a damning statement on where MMOs are right now.
My question is what will be the server population cap?
I have heard (heard being other players talk about this) that they have had progression servers before, but they were raid progression, being that when certain raid content was completed, the new expansion was unlocked.
This led to uber guilds completing content before the vast majority was ready, but I digress...
I was told that when this raid progression server released it was so full they had to make a new server to accomodate the amount of players wanting to play.
So I wonder if the new progression server will get so full they will open another server for everyone to play on as well? I would hope so, because as much as I will enjoy seeing 500+ people in Gfay, it will be annoying to have to wait in a 500 person que to log in and play.
We will see though! Either way I will play, whether it is waiting 45 minutes in a 500 person que, or joining a newly released 2nd progression server :P.
halfling druid, halfling rogue, wood elf bard, and gnome enchanter for the win! (Will I ever reach max level with any of them, who knows?!, but I sure as heck will have a good time doing it!)
I am entitled to my opinions, misspellings, and grammatical errors.
In short the answer would be a big fat no.
Man I can't believe they are finally doing this. I've been petitioning and trying to talk this up for 5 years. I just wish I had the time to devote to it at this point in my life. Nothing compared to classic EQ and the first 2 expansions. Never been anything like it, never will be again.
its possible but unlikely -- the vast majority of EQ2X players are not paying a *monthly fee*
I'll be playing on the new progression server, but more for nostalgia than anything else
EQ2 fan sites
If EQnext is a heavy cash shop baby, then I won't be playing it either.
I loved EQ, heck I would play the old graphics, and resub, if they went back to the beginning and then developed new expansions and wiped the old expansions out, basically a relaunch with new content, that mirrored earlier expansions style, not the LDoN type instanced crud.
This is my first post on these forums, though I browse them often. While there have been many threads I've found myself drawing a strong opinion on, none have pressed upon me such a feeling that now is the time I should fall in and show my support. I have been playing rpgs for longer than I care to remember, but EQ was my first true mmorpg experience. Nothing I have played since has come remotely close to delivering the feeling I found every single time I logged into EQ. Some of the best friendships I've had were with people I met in EQ.
What I always found interesting is in nearly every other mmo I've played over the years I have found myself in long conversation with players I'd only just then met about EQ and the unforgettable experiences we all had there. I find it equally as interesting that I am more excited about the opening of a new server for a 12 year old game than I have been about the release of any new mmorpgs since maybe Vanguard. Despite all the bickering over games like EQ, UO, AC and their relevance to the genre today, ask yourself why. Why is it that so many who played those games so long ago still have such a passion for them. For many, more-so than any of the dozens of flashy options available today? EQ, for most, was more than an experience level, a gear score, your next epic drop, a swollen epeen. EQ was an adventure true to definition.
Given the divided nature of the players these days I think it will never be reshaped into what it was years ago. The mass market mmos are just too profitable for companies whose sole purpose is to turn a profit. After all, they have lives to support and probably sub fees to pay themselves. However, I do think that a portion of the genre can be turned to support the market for the style of games that have held onto so many of us for so long. Having said that, my answer is yes. I do think it can serve as a hope but it will, as Mardy said, require a great show of support. I am hopeful Fippy gets exactly that. See you all on the 15th!
Not a hope that things will return, more of a final refuge. I just bought EQ1 for the first time ever, desperate to revisit the same style of games that used to be made. I never played EQ, but I played DAoC, which was similar enough (without a few of the EQ design flaws, and without some of EQs depth)
I'm looking forward to this more than any new game coming out because it really is the only place for us core MMORPG gamers.
Very much looking forward to it. I dont even feel like logging into my L80 toon anymore, and though I was looking forward to this weekend beta for rift I logged in for about 1 minute then logged out. Since then Ive been playing around in the old zones trying to figure out which class I want to play. Maybe Ill play a tank for the first time.
Hey guys I never heard about this new server, where can I read about it. I am gonan start too i just need more info on when the server is out and do i need to purchase all EQ1 expensions? or is it just first EQ before POP and SOL.
Oh nvm i just found out its coming out on FEB 15th , but where can i buy all EQ1? and same question remains do i need all EQ1 expensions and adventure packs?
The FAQ.
Also buying the latest expansion these days will get you flagged for all prior expansions. So buying House of Thule will flag you for 17 of 17 expansions. Amazon & D2D both have a good deal of $19.99 right now for it.
You don't technically need to buy any expansions if you just want to resub your old EQ account and start playing. That's if you still remember how to login to your old EQ account. Difference is if you purchase say, House of Thule for 19.99 and start a new soe account for it, then you'll get the first 30 day free. If you resub to your old EQ account, you'll pay $15, but you don't get any further expansions other than what you had before.
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
EQ next is going to be like EQ1 with EQ2 mechanics like graphics and tradeskills and housing. EQnext will not be a cashshop and if it is it will be just like eq1/2 right now. But my belief is that it wont have any cash shop at all, because it will not sell in my opinion if it does, unless they make it F2P and i doubt SoE would do that with the EQ brand name.
thanx for info !SEE U ON FEB 15th !!!! DARK ELF ARCHER
I'm looking forward to see what the inept leadership at SOE does with EQNext. For now, they have done something right in releasing this progression server. I'll take that. I'd take a SWG classic server as well....
As for modern MMOs, releasing classic servers might just become the next big thing. It should be fairly easy, and it clearly has a player base interested. How long until we`re debating the merits of vanilla WoW?
Dark Elf Archer??
I don't know what you mean but Dark Elves never had rangers. Maybe you wnat to make a warrior with a bow, but that may well be a waste.
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Oh I dunno if you thought I was trying to make my mind up about this, but the truth is I've done that. I'll be playing on February 15th and I really can't wait.
I do honestly believe that this server can be popular and say something to MMO developers everywhere. This one server has more longevity than Rift from the off, and I'd love to see EQ take a lot of the fencers from Rift and really say something to Trion about their mindless, linear and unimaginative gameplay. The old is where it's at now. Nothing in current MMO gaming comes close to creating the atmosphere that EQ had and the challenge it presented.
If people flock to this progression server then hopefully some dev somewhere might realise what's wrong and what's needed.
Like I say I don't know if Mardy was questioning me, but the truth is he's right anyway. If we want change in this genre, our genre, then we need to say something and support the projects that embrace that change. We need to show up like a swarm on the 15th. Even if the other dev companies don't listen then maybe SOE will and then they'll make EQNext what it should be.
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It is not really a hope for MMOs, just a service for old EQ players.
The future of MMOs is not EQ. Possible but unlikely EQ Next.
I think the genre will split up into several genres instead. Some games will be heavily instanced and moving even more to items, maybe they loose the levels altogether. Others will try to be closer to P&P RPGs like WoDO and GW2 will most likely spawn a few new games as well with dynamic quests.
Blizzard seems to think that MMOFPS games are the next thing and they are good at guessing trends.
But the "good old days" are gone, remember it with fondness but you cant turn back time.
Not enough people will play long enough for it to change where money gets pumped.
--John Ruskin
Lok, I think you`re right on the first two. The genre is breaking itself into different accessible fragments. Bliz definitely has a handle on where the casual money is and they`re sure to be a moving force in casual innovation.
But I disagree that the nostalgia player is not a force to be reckoned with. I can and will easilly spend another 3 years in the SOE universe just because of this and I`m not alone. If this is successful, other publishers will take note and this will be something they toss around in forward planning meetings. ``How much would it cost to do Classic?``
I don't mean the future of the genre has to be EQ. There's no rose tinted specs on my face. I believe EQ was a great game but that doesn't mean new MMOs have to be EQ, they just need to take EQ's focus and use it in their own way. Instead of linear, quest-led experiences we'd have freedom and choice. Instead of fast experience and easy mobs we'd have fun the whole way up and a challenge. Instead of solo rollercoasters we'd have a positive social experience and the meeting of new people through pick up groups.
It doesn't have to be EQ, but MMOs do need to be different than the current trend. If devs realise there is a subset of potential subscribers that will rather play the old than the new, then maybe that is where this server brings hope.
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Hope in which vein? It gives you changing world full of frequest updates. It is something MMOs with their monthly subs should be - a living game, not a boxed product that gets all real talents relocated right at the moment they start to ask people for money and just janitors are left on the scene to provide service for you monhtly fee. You have to play some F2P today to see GM driven action.
But there is more to the MMO issues than abandoning your service, erm sorry product.
the problem with EQ is NOT EQ, the problem with EQ is SoE... anyone who thinks otherwise just have their head in the sand:D you cant pi$$ off your entire player base for 10 years and expect people to come back... the truth is I'd resub to EQ today if it was sold to another company:D
rift may not have the same magic as EQ, but it does have something that SoE has long since forgotten. a dev crew that's given enough leeway to put out a good product. if you were in their beta, you'd see that they are pushing to make the game as polished as possible before launch and it's not something you see alot of these days. each beta event, they actually listen to the player feedback and make fairly signifcant changes before the next beta event. I'm not saying rift doesnt have its share of flaws, but what they do show is a dev crew that care enough about the game itself to continuously try to improve it even this late in the launch cycle.
That has little to do with the new progression server. It's the EQ1 dev team that made this happen. Did you bother reading the ruleset FAQ for Fippy Darkpaw? If so you'll notice the dev team cares and they did take in lots of player feedback. They did spend a lot of time tweaking and changing the progression server to be different from the last progression servers.
They've fixed what went wrong with the previous progression servers and have spent the dev resources to design a voting system where players of this new progression server gets to vote for expansion opening. This goes opposite what your post indicate. Honestly I get the hate for SOE, but we all grow up some day and realize the difference between SOE management (Smed & suits) vs the active EQ development team members, whom are passionate about this game and actually made this new progression server so awesome.
Enjoy your game, but it's not EQ, you and I both know it. This new time locked progression server will cater very well to those miss EQ's good 'ol days, the nostalgia. Too bad you'll miss it
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO